' A society of British Film Directors and Designers was founded in 1946, for the betterment of the Design in British Films. Out of this society grew the Guild of Film Art Directors, and the present British Film Designers Guild''', who now include in their membership all the various branches of the Art Department. They are not a trade union. The British equivalent of the Art Directors Guild, although smaller in size are one of the key organisations in the that work directly with the UK Government: Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport. This Guild is presented primarily to assist Producers and others to select Department members who will maintain the highest standards of Art Direction, even on the smallest of productions, and whose knowledge, experience and talent have been proven to be the highest in a medium where four-fifths of the spectators' attention is visual. The British Film Designers Guild has members in every grade of the art department, from draughtspersons to costume designers, set decorators to production designers, and was formed with the aim of raising the standards and the profile of the art department and protecting the interest of its members.
Art Department positions
The hierarchy in the United Kingdom does have some title variants with job descriptions. Here is a guide to the main positions within each area, as there are many alternatives dependent on the film requirements and to which country the film is based in. Some titles vary like for example Draughtsman UK, to Set Designer or Draftsman USA . The Production Designer is the head of various departments, Art, Construction, Decorating, Property & Prop Making. Here is a guide to the main positions within each area.
Production designer, Supervising art director – controls staff, work & schedule req., Art director usually several positions – controls several sets, draughts, organizes & liaises with trades, Stand-by art director, Assistant art director – draughts & liaises with trades, Art department co-ordinator, Senior draughtsperson ' experienced draughtspeople who choose to stay drawing board based, draughtsperson ', Junior draughtsperson, Art department assistant or Runner '.
Set decorator ' – selects all props and set dressing. ', Production buyer, Assistant set decorator, Assistant buyer.
Property master – controls prop collecting, storing, dressing, manufacture and stand-by.', Props dresser Set dresser U.S. or Swing gang U.S.' , Prop dresser
Construction manager, Assistant construction manager, Construction buyer, H.o.D. Carpenter ', H.o.D. Painter, H.o.D. Plasterer, H.o.D. Rigger & H.o.D. Stagehand '. Within each department is Supervising, Chargehand positions to Labourers & Apprentices.
H.o.D. Prop maker – works in conjunction with Props, Senior prop makers, Prop maker, Sculptors & Apprentices.
This Society was formed out of work done within the Guild to benefit members and has since grown to assist many other departments within film production. The BFDG no longer operates as a collecting society, after a reorganising of its core business model. They are proud to have championed the establishment of the principles behind "Copyright" and the definition of "Authors" within the Film and Television Industries, and to have paved the way for residuals to be paid to Key UK based technicians. Do contact the guild for more information on directly joining other existing societies.
